Lost love
by Mistress-sfc
Summary: Twists and turns! Let this story take you on an emotional roller coaster ride as Sakura tries to find out who she is destined to be with. Sakura is forced to review her situation with Sasuke. SASUSAKU MAYBE.
1. Chapter 1 Reunion

**Lost love**

**Twists and turns! Let this story take you on an emotional roller coaster ride as Sakura tries to find out who she is destined to be with. Sakura is forced to review her situation with Sasuke. Will this couple have a happy ending or will someone else steal Sakura's heart. SASUSAKU MAYBE.**

**Warnings: The characters have grown up (mentally and psychically), thus a bit out of character. If you haven't read my other stories here is a heads up: I have a reputation for making my stories very romantic. I'm not saying that this story will have the same (fluff) level, but be warned. Also this story is not completely in line with the storyline of the manga or the anime.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the manga/anime Naruto (Do I really have to say this every time?)**

"talking"  
"_thinking"_

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* * *

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* * *

**Chapter 1 Reunion**

"Sakura what's wrong?" He whispered.

Sakura had a bewildered look on her face. She looked straight into the eyes of Neji and wondered. She wondered why he had just kissed her and why she kissed him back. The kiss was brief and gentle and she enjoyed every short second of it, but at the same time she felt scared. Scared of losing the feeling she had in her heart for so long. The love that lingered for Sasuke. Scared of loving someone else other than him. She was scared of loving Neji. She wondered if what they or rather what she was doing was right. Was it okay for Sakura to forget about Sasuke? And what if she decided to try and forget him and later on she would find out that she couldn't completely do that. What if her love for Sasuke will always remain in her heart? What then? Would she be able to hurt Neji who over the last few years became one of her closest friends?

"Sakura?" Neji asked her again.

Sakura kept staring into his eyes. She saw his worried expression. She gently caressed his cheek. _"Will I ever be able to get over Sasuke?"_ She thought to herself. She slowly moved towards Neji, she closed her eyes and softly kissed him on the lips. Suddenly the words 'Thank you' came to her mind. It was Sasuke's voice. It were the words he said to her the night he left. She opened her eyes and pulled away from Neji. A tear fell from her eye.

"Sakura?" Neji asked again with a concerned tone in his voice. He reached out to wipe away the tear, but she moved away from him before he could do so.

"No." Was the only thing she said. She saw that Neji did not understand why she said that. She quickly stood up and left, leaving a speechless Neji behind.

* * *

It has been a long time since Sasuke left Konoha village. Konoha ninjas have gone on numerous attempts to bring Sasuke back, but they failed every time. They were however successful in stopping Orochimaru from absorbing Sasuke. The fight would go on long enough so that Orochimaru was forced to retreat and absorb someone else. Somehow Orochimaru always managed to escape. But the Konoha ninjas did everything in their power to stall Sasuke's retreat. This way Orochimaru could not absorb him. And so they prevailed and hindered several attempts of Orochimaru getting the power of the Sharingan. For these very dangerous missions some of the strongest of Konoha were recruited. It was necessary to do so in order to stand a chance against Orochimaru and Sasuke at the same time.

Naruto and Sakura were forbidden to take part in these battles. The Hokage decided that they were not strong enough to face Sasuke, Orochimaru and his minions. In addition she thought that their emotions would get the better of them and it would cloud their judgment. That could endanger the mission and the team members.

Years have passed and things have changed. Naruto and Sakura have matured and have devoted most of their time to training. Tsunade now believes that it is time for Sasuke's old friends to go on another attempt to bring him back. She had a feeling that things would go differently this time…

Sakura was now in her twenties, just like most of her friends. She was sitting on the bench where Sasuke placed her after he knocked her lights out years ago. It was 2 o'clock at night. She had her head in her hands and she was crying uncontrollably. She kept remembering Sasuke's face and his expression. At that time when he ran off she felt so lost. She somehow thought that it was her fault that he left. She hated the fact that she couldn't stop him. All these years she made it look like she was over him, but deep inside her heart the love for him was still there. Even though she did not want to feel this way. She didn't want to feel this love… This pain…

Naruto was taking a midnight stroll through the village. He could not sleep, because he was too excited for the mission planned for this morning. Somehow he ended up at the location where Sakura was. He saw her sitting there crying and felt sorry for her. He knew what she was crying about, though it still surprised him. She had been acting tough all these years, not shedding one tear for that guy. He was wondering why she was sitting there, but then he remembered Sakura saying something about this place. It was where Sasuke and Sakura said their last goodbyes. He walked over to her. "It has been a lot of years." Sakura swiftly looked up. He smiled at her. "Time flies."

She hadn't realized that he was standing there. She looked at him with teary eyes. "Naruto? How long… Err, what are you doing here?" She quickly wiped away her tears.

"I was just passing by. I couldn't sleep." He sat down next to her. They sat there for a while, in silence. It was a beautiful night. There were a lot of bright stars shining down on them. A warm breeze passed by waving Sakura's hair in the air. Her hair had grown back over the years, it became long again, just like how it was before. But she cut it and now it has a shorter length than how it used to be when she graduated from the academy, because she liked it better that way. Her pink hair was hanging loose, just over her shoulder.

Finally Naruto spoke. "You know… in just a couple of hours were leaving to go on the mission."

"Oh really? What mission would that be again?" She asked him like there was nothing wrong with her and that just a moment ago she was not upset at all.

"Did you forget already?" He grinned. Sakura looked at him confused. His face turned serious now. He placed his hand on her hand and whispered in her ear. "I promised you that I would bring him back and I plan to keep that promise."

She remembered his promise he made to her when they were young. In addition she remembered the briefing they had with Tsunade not too long ago. Today was the day that they were going on another attempt to bring Sasuke back. All these years, Sakura and Naruto were forbidden to go anywhere near Sasuke and Orochimaru. But not this time. Naruto and Sakura were part of this mission. It was one year ago that ninjas were sent to battle Orochimaru. It wasn't time yet to stop another absorbing attempt. But even though three years had not passed since the last time, Tsunade felt that it was time to try and persuade Sasuke to come back with words. She had a feeling that he would listen this time, because they had all matured. Sakura smiled vaguely, remembering the promise Naruto made her. She replied with a determined look. "And I said that I was going with you."

He smiled back at her. "I remember." He kissed her on her cheek and stood up. "We'd better get some rest." Sakura nodded and stood up as well. Naruto looked at her. "Are you going to be ok?"

Sakura gave him a warm smile. "I'll be fine." She hugged him and they said their goodbyes. She watched him leave as he walked towards the Hyuuga residence. She remembered the day when Naruto met Hinata's father for the very first time. He was so nervous, that he became so clumsy. He broke a lot of things that day. She chuckled. Luckily for him, Hinata's dad still accepted him in the family as Hinata's boyfriend. It took a while but eventually Hinata's father liked him so much that he even offered Naruto a place to stay at their house, so he wouldn't be so alone. He has been living there for quite some time now. It has become his home. Naruto sees the Hyuuga family as the family he never had. He has grown so much in many different ways. He has a place to call home, a wonderful girlfriend and a lot of friends.

While thinking about the Hyuugas she thought of Neji, who helped her a lot all these years. She knew he tried to help her forget about Sasuke although unknowingly he wasn't very successful. Neji and Sakura became very close. They spent a lot of time together when he wasn't on some mission and she wasn't training. He took her to festivals and they went shopping together. She remembered the night they kissed. That was a very confusing night for Sakura, because deep down she knew she still loved Sasuke. Yet she allowed herself to take it one step further with Neji. She never told him why she ran away from him after kissing him on that fateful evening. The following day, Sakura found out that Neji went on a mission and when he came back a few days later, they both acted as if nothing had happened. They started to spend less time together and Neji started focusing on his missions more and Sakura on her training. They still saw each other sometimes, but things were never the same.

She thought of Naruto again who had grown up so much. "It's time for me to grow up as well." Sakura said out loud. _"It's time for me to move on. I am going on that mission tomorrow, not to bring back a lost love, but a lost friend." _She tried to convince herself. She went home.

As soon as the sun touched the horizon, the ninjas assembled at Konoha gate. They were all there, **The Konoha eleven** and their senseis.

_**(Author's note:**__ The Konoha eleven consists of: Naruto - Sakura, Shikamaru - Ino - Chouji, Hinata - Kiba -Shino, Neji – Tenten - Lee.)_

But not all of them were going on this mission. The only ones going on this mission were Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru as team 1 with Shikamaru as the leader. And Shino, Neji and Lee as team 2, with Neji being second in command and leader of team 2.

Naruto was talking to Hinata, when he noticed Sakura standing all by herself, seemingly nervous. He walked over to her. "Sakura?" She looked at him and gave him a quick smile. He was a little bit worried about her. Suddenly he said. "I'm sure he will be happy to see you."

She was surprised to hear him say that and laughed. "I doubt that. He wants us to leave him alone and we are deliberately going against his wishes…again."

Naruto did not respond at first. He just stared at her. "I know he will be happy to see you. Who wouldn't be? I mean… It might not seem that way, but he really does care about you."

Sakura frowned a bit. "Yeah right. How would you know?" She turned around to walk away.

Naruto stopped her by grabbing her wrist. Sakura turned to face him again. He gazed intently into her eyes. "I just know. Remember what he told me the day we fought and he left. He called us his friends." He smiled at her with his usual bright grin. But there was another reason why Naruto believed that Sasuke was going to be happy to see her. Actually he was not sure at all. But he wants to believe that he would. Because if he wouldn't be happy, then their mutual friend is too far gone to be saved. He returned to Hinata's side.

Sakura watched him leave. She had a surprised and confused look on her face. Not really sure why Naruto told her that out of the blue. She sighed. _"Thank you Naruto. But I'm not so certain about that." _She thought to herself.

Shikamaru spoke. "Ok people it's about time for us to go. This is your last chance to say goodbye to everyone. I know its troublesome, but just do it, otherwise you'll regret it." With that said Ino pulled his ear.

"So you think it's troublesome to say goodbye to your girlfriend huh?" Ino spoke with a threatening voice.

Shikamaru winced in pain. "No, of course not." He laughed nervously. "What I meant to say was that it's hard to say goodbye, because I will miss you so much Ino." He grinned.

Sakura looked at Shikamaru and Ino arguing. She smiled. Ino always bossed Shikamaru around. Who would have thought that Shikamaru could fall for such a troublesome woman, because lets face it Ino can be a real pain in the ass. In addition, who would have thought that Ino could fall for someone other than Sasuke? Sakura remembered the conversation she had with Ino about that particular subject. When Sakura asked Ino about why she's not in love with Sasuke anymore Ino told her that she gave up on waiting for someone who was not the one for her. She told Sakura that if Ino and Sasuke were to end up together, fate would have made it so that they ended up in the same team together in the first place, so that they would have become friends and more. But they didn't. Ino took it as a sign that it just wasn't meant to be. It took Ino a while to realize that. It also took her some time to realize that true love was right in front of her. Sakura was really happy for Shikamaru and Ino when she found out that they were a couple. They were an inspiration for her to start dating. They made her grasp the notion that there is a chance that she could find love elsewhere other than with Sasuke. Unfortunately for Sakura each one of her relationships turned out bad.

Her first sort of boyfriend was a guy named Rai, who left her for another girl. She got over him real quick, she used extreme violence as therapy. She put the poor guy in the hospital, which was one of the reasons why he broke up with her in the first place. She was too strong for his taste.  
Then she started dating a guy called Shinchi. He was really nice, but somehow Sakura could not see him other than a close friend so she broke up with him. He really loved her or so she thought. The day after she broke up with him, she saw him walking with two girls, one on each arm. And he was acting completely different, he even changed his style of clothing and hair. When she asked her best friend Ino about it, Ino told her that Shinchi can appear to be very nice and loyal, but in truth he's a huge player. After scolding Ino for not telling Sakura this before she went out with him, she put Shinchi in the hospital too.  
This of course gave her a reputation of a scary girl. Even though she was very pretty and popular, boys were now afraid to ask her out in fear of pissing her off.

Then there was Kenshi. He was absolutely perfect for her. He was sweet and thoughtful. Extremely hot and the best thing was that he only had eyes for her. She met Kenshi when he was in Konoha on a mission. He was the bodyguard of one of the leaders of his village who was visiting Konoha at the time, to discuss a couple of important things with Tsunade. They both knew that when the one he was protecting was going back to his village they would end their relationship. But that didn't stop them from enjoying every minute they spend together. So after what to them seemed to be two very short weeks they said their goodbyes and she never saw him again.

Every time one of Sakura's relationships ended, her heart would ache for Sasuke again. And every time Neji was there to cheer her up. He was there for her when Rai broke up with her, Neji was there for her when she broke up with Shinchi and he was there for her when Kenshi left. She didn't know what she would do without Neji. She needed him, more than what she was willing to admit. But she liked the way things are between the two of them now. Her distancing herself from Neji and the whole dating scene gave her room to grow as an individual. All the trails of her past made her who she was now. She was now less dependant of people. She was stronger.

Ino let go of Shikamaru's ear. She looked him in the eyes. "Just promise me that you will return safely." She said with a worried expression.

Shikamaru saw how concerned she was. His mood changed from joking around to serious. "I can't promise you that." He said seriously.

Tears started welling up in Ino's eyes, knowing that Shikamaru was right. She knew that they would probably have to face Orochimaru and his minions, which is not a risk-free thing. She approached him and whispered. "Then promise me, you'll try. How troublesome it may be."

Shikamaru caressed her cheek. "I promise." He kissed her gently on the lips. They hugged. She didn't want to let go. She was holding onto him with a tight grip. He softly kissed her in the neck and then on the cheek and lastly on her forehead and let her go. He went to stand next to Shino who already said his goodbyes to everyone.

Sakura's gaze went from Ino and Shikamaru to Tenten and Neji.

Tenten hugged Neji firmly. Tears were falling down her cheek. She wanted to go with him, but at the briefing Tsunade told everyone that only two teams were available to go on this mission and Shikamaru was in charge of picking out the members. Too bad for her he didn't pick her, not because she isn't strong, but because she had to go on another mission, just like the other members of the Konoha eleven.

"Ssh, it's ok Tenten. I'm sure everything will be fine." Neji tried to calm her.

"I know… I know. It's just that… You don't know what you're getting yourself into. Who knows how strong your opponents are. You might get hurt or worse. I can't help but be worried." She said sobbing a bit.

Neji stroke her long hair. He stopped hugging her and faced her. He placed his hands on her face and wiped away her tears with his thumbs. "Tenten, I'll be back before you know it." He kissed her on the forehead, and then briefly on the lips. "You too, good luck with your mission." He saw by the look on her face that she still wasn't satisfied with him going on this mission. "I'll be fine. And when I get back, you and I are going on a short vacation, ok? I promise." He said as his last attempt to lighten her up. She sighed. "Come on princess, smile for me." He said with a loving smirk. He saw a small smile appearing on her face. He kissed her, longer this time. He then joined Shino and Shikamaru.

As Sakura was watching Neji and Tenten say goodbye to each other, she thought to herself that it must be wonderful to love someone that truly loves you back. She bit her lip. Suddenly a wave of regret came over her. Although a lot of people did not expect Neji to be a loving boyfriend, he is. And she blew her chance to be with him. Sometimes she wishes that he would give her another try. But then she immediately regretted thinking that, because Tenten is her friend and she deserves to be with someone as caring and loving as Neji. And besides she was still not over Sasuke and it would be unfair to Neji if she was his girlfriend when she likes someone else too. She closed her eyes and brushed away her thoughts of Neji, she needed to focus on the mission. Persuading Sasuke, her first love, her friend, to come back.  
When she opened her eyes she noticed that Neji was looking at her. He smiled at her. She shyly smiled back at him. She noticed that he somehow seemed a little bit disappointed. Maybe he was thinking the same thing as her. Maybe he regretted the fact that he didn't pursue her more. Maybe what Sakura was thinking right now was just wishful thinking. She gazed over to where Tenten was standing. She saw her say goodbye to Lee. She felt a strange vibe coming from those two. It was a little bit awkward to look at them.

Lee was in love with Sakura for quite a while. Even though she did not love him back they became very good friends. One day he confided in her by telling Sakura that he was falling in love with Tenten. She encouraged him to tell Tenten how he felt, because they both sensed that Tenten had the same feelings for him. Over the years Tenten and Lee became very close and went one several dates. At one time Tenten even told Sakura that she admired and loved Lee's strength and perseverance. But Lee never got the chance to declare his love, because unexpectedly Neji and Tenten became a couple.

Sakura saw Tenten hugging Lee and she saw that Lee had a sad expression on his face. She was convinced that he was thinking about the times he spent together with Tenten and that he regretted not telling her how he felt. When Tenten let him go Lee did not want to give her the impression that he was sad and smiled at her. Tenten kissed him on the cheek and he then went to stand next to Shino, Shikamaru and Neji. _"Poor Lee."_ Sakura thought to herself. Her gaze turned to Naruto.

Naruto was holding hands with Hinata. He looked at her soft hands and gently caressed them. He then softly spoke. "Hinata, tell your father that when I get back we are going to throw a big party, ok?" Hinata nodded. "Don't forget." He added as a final note.

"I won't." She whispered. They stood there in silence for a few moments.

"Naruto/Hinata" They said simultaneously. They laughed nervously. "You go first." Hinata said.

"Ok." He smiled. "Hinata? You know I love you right?" He said seriously, still holding her hands.

"Yes I know." She stared at the ground.

"Well… As long as you know that… then…" He leaned in forward and let his forehead rest on her forehead. He didn't finish his sentence.

"I love you too." She replied with a soft voice. Their hands were now entangled with each other. She placed his hands on her hips. He pulled her closer. They embraced. They looked in each other's eyes. Hinata was trying real hard not to cry.

"I don't think you realize how much you mean to me, Hinata." He said still gazing into her eyes. "You…"

"Ssh." Hinata interrupted him. "Don't tell me how much. Show me when you get back." She smiled sadly. Naruto nodded. He kissed her and she kissed him back. It was a soft yet intense kiss, brief but to them it seemed like forever. He stopped and looked at her. Hinata still had her eyes closed. She bit her lip. He tenderly touched her cheek and walked away.

Sakura was still standing alone. She hadn't said goodbye to anyone yet. She was just standing there, the whole time, quietly staring into the distance. Shino approached her. "Sakura?" She looked at him and smiled. "We have to go now." He said to her.

"Oh right. Go. We have to go. Go get Sasuke back. Err… ok let us… go." She stuttered. She walked over to Hinata and gave her big hug.

"Please watch over Naruto for me." Hinata whispered into Sakura's ear.

Sakura smiled and whispered back. "Don't worry. I'll make sure that he will safely return to you." She was about to let Hinata go, but she felt Hinata tighten her grip.

"Please Sakura." Hinata spoke again. "Please, whatever happens… make sure he comes back to me." Hinata slowly loosened her grip.

Sakura let Hinata go to look her in the eyes. She got a bit worried when she saw how concerned Hinata was. She smiled at her friend. "No matter what, I will do my best to return Naruto to you." Hinata smiled back at her and nodded.

Sakura walked over to Ino and gave her a warm embrace. They let each other go and gazed into each other's eyes. Ino stroke Sakura's hair. "Sakura?" Ino softly spoke.

Sakura smiled and nodded. "I know what you're going to say. Take care of yourself. Don't do anything stupid. Blablabla. I know. I know." Sakura chuckled.

To Sakura's surprise Ino shook her head. "No sweetie." She replied. Sakura looked at her confused. Ino sighed. "Sakura. I know I'm going to regret saying this but… If you are planning to tell Sasuke that you love him again, make sure that you show him how much."

Sakura laughed. "What are you talking about? I'm not going to tell him…"

Ino interrupted her. "Show him. He needs proof. Look at what his brother, a person that supposedly loved him did to him. You have to show him how much you love him. Give him a reason to come back." Ino spoke with deep concern.

"Why are you saying this all of a sudden?"

Tears started welling up in Ino's eyes. "Because you're my best friend and I want you to be happy."

"Ino…" Sakura hugged her.

Ino held back her tears and whispered into Sakura's ear. "And if Sasuke is truly the one that can make you happy, you deserve to be with him. Even though he's the biggest meanie and loser I've ever known." They both laughed. They stopped hugging each other and Ino faced Sakura again. "If your dream comes true and you finally become a couple, I'll accept him and I will respect your relationship. But if he breaks your heart, I'll be there for you to pick up the pieces… and break his legs of course."

Sakura smiled at her best friend. "Thanks Ino." She hugged her one more time. When she let Ino go she went to say goodbye to Tenten. She stood in front of her friend and felt a bit awkward. Both Tenten and Sakura smiled nervously at each other. Finally Sakura hugged her. "Take care Tenten."

Tenten hugged her back. "You too Sakura." Sakura let go, but Tenten pulled her back into the embrace. "Sakura?" She said in her ear.

Before Tenten could say anything else Sakura let go of Tenten and looked into her eyes. "I know Tenten. I know. I'll keep an eye on him and make sure that he's safe." Tenten nodded gently verifying that that was indeed what Tenten was going to ask her. Sakura smiled at her. Tenten knew all about Neji and Sakura's past. She knew that Neji once loved Sakura and that they had kissed. She also knew what happened after that. Even though she knew all this she still accepted Neji into her heart and they had a loving relationship ever since. Despite of their history Sakura remained one of her closest friends.

"I trust you Sakura." Tenten softly spoke while still looking into Sakura's eyes. "You know why?" She smiled. Sakura smiled back at her waiting for Tenten to tell her the reason. "Because I know you love him." She unexpectedly said.

Sakura was surprised to hear Tenten say that. "Ha… err what? What? Why? Who? No, of course not. I mean yeah, but not… You know." Sakura stuttered.

Tenten laughed. "It's ok Sakura. Because I know that you love him, I know that you will do anything in your power to make sure that he comes back to me." She smiled. "I trust you." Before Sakura could reply to what Tenten just said she heard Shikamaru's voice telling her to hurry up. "You'd better go." Tenten gave her a quick hug for the last time.

Sakura walked over to others. She quickly hugged Chouji and Kiba, pat Akamaru, waved to the senseis and the two teams left to commence with their mission.

* * *

After traveling for a day they were getting nearer to what seemed to be the place where Orochimaru resides. Sakura was getting more and more nervous. She hoped that Sasuke wouldn't be mad when he sees them, even though she knew that he'd probably be pissed. On the way over there, Neji and Sakura had a few awkward moments when they caught themselves staring at each other. When they arrived Shikamaru signaled Neji to use Byakugan to scan the area for enemies and Sasuke's location. Neji whispered that there were three guards protecting what seemed to be the entrance to Orochimaru's home. He saw that Sasuke was taking a bath near a waterfall, not far from where they were now. Sakura's eyes widened the second Neji mentioned Sasuke's name. She was glad to hear that Sasuke was doing okay. Neji also mentioned that there were only two guards protecting Sasuke.

"Ok here's what we're going to do." Shikamaru took in all the information they had so far and already came up with a plan. "Team 1 goes after Sasuke. Team 2, you secure the home base of Orochimaru. Quietly, so you won't alarm other ninjas. Make sure that you won't alarm Orochimaru either, so once you've taken down the guards, put their clothes on. Luckily, they are wearing masks now. Therefore Orochimaru won't recognize you if he comes out of his house to check up on security. Stay here until I give the green light to leave." They all nodded in agreement to what Shikamaru was saying. "Neji, one last thing. You're in command now. Make the difficult decisions necessary to safeguard the health of your team. If something goes wrong, retreat to the woods and stay there until we pass by to pick you up. "Ok let's get to work." The teams went their separate ways. Sakura saw that Neji gave her one last look before he went on his way.

Team 1 quickly arrived at the scene where Sasuke was taking his bath. They spotted the two men guarding Sasuke. Shikamaru ordered Naruto to take one down and he would take the other one. Sakura was ordered to make contact with Sasuke. She protested at first, but Shikamaru then made it clear that there was no time for arguing.

"Don't be so troublesome woman. Would you just go to him already? We'll catch up with you as soon as we have taken these guards down."

"But!" She tried one more time.

"Look, we are going to be a couple of hundreds meters apart. If something happens we will be able to hear you. Now just go." Shikamaru urged her.

"Remember what I said Sakura. It's ok. Just go to him." Naruto softly spoke, reassuring her that everything was going to be fine.

"You heard the man, now go." Shikamaru pushed her.

She nodded and left unwillingly.

* * *

Sakura slowly reached the waterfall where Sasuke was. She jumped from tree to tree. She put to use her best stealth skills. She spotted him swimming around in the lake. Diving and then coming up again. She moved in closer. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw him a bit closer. She blushed. She almost forgot how handsome he was when they were younger. She still couldn't see him clearly so she moved in closer, carefully planning her steps as she went. When she stopped at a place where she should be able to see him better, she was shocked to see that he was not there anymore. She quickly glanced around the area. He was nowhere to be found. Suddenly she felt something cold against her neck. It was a knife. A low, threatening voice spoke to her.

"Don't move." The voice said. Sakura slowly raised her hands. "Get up." She heard the person behind her take a few steps back, still aiming the knife at her. She could feel the point in her back. She started to stand up. "Slowly." The dark voice ordered her. She stood up and the unidentified person turned her around. Sakura faced him and was looking straight into the eyes of a surprised Sasuke. "You?" He mumbled. Sakura quickly observed him and saw that his hair was longer. He had it in a ponytail and he had a few strands of hair in front of his face. He kind of looked like his brother, only sexier. He has gotten taller too. No surprise there since he's also in his twenties now.

Sakura blushed when she noticed she was looking at his abs and shyly waved at him with her hands still in the air. "Hello Sasuke. Long time no see."

"What the hell are you doing here?" He said with a raised and aggravated tone of voice.

Sakura rolled her eyes and let down her hands._ "Well Naruto you were wrong about him being happy to see me, although this was also not the reaction I was expecting." _She forced herself to smile at him. "Err… look before you get mad…"

"I'm not mad. I'm furious." He said with his usual cold and dark voice. "Now answer my question, what are you doing here? Trying to commit suicide in an inventive way or something?" Sasuke hissed at her.

"Sasuke would you just listen to me for a sec!" She unexpectedly shouted at him.

"Keep your voice down, I don't want Orochimaru's minions to find out that you're here." He gazed around the area to see where the guards were.

"Why do you care?" She said sarcastically.

He turned and faced her again. "Not much, so don't push it."

She raised an eyebrow. Looks like Sasuke's appearance may have changed, but on the inside he was still as cold as ever. "Anyway, I did not come here alone. Two teams of Konoha are present here at this time."

"What?" He said even more irritated. Sakura could see that he was really pissed off. "It has not even been three years yet. I told those ninjas from last time to leave me the hell alone, otherwise I would come to Konoha myself to kick the Hokage's ass personally."

"Calm down Sasuke." Sakura tried to soothe his temper.

"You." He pointed at her with the knife and then he put the knife back in his pocket. Sakura saw that he was pondering about something. "You can't stay here. You have to leave." He said with a resolute tone of voice.

"What?" She said surprised. She did not come all the way here and risk the lives of others just to be dismissed as easily as that. "No! I'm not going anywhere. Sasuke the only thing that is here for you is death. Come back to Konoha and I promise you, that you will get the strength that you've been looking for." She pleaded with him.

He walked over to her seemingly ignoring her comments and grabbed her by the arm. He started pushing her towards the forest where she came from. "You don't understand. Just go and don't ever come back."

"Well well well Sasuke, is that how you treat a guest?" Naruto came out of the forest together with Shikamaru. Sakura assumed that they got rid of the guards.

Sasuke sighed. "Not you too. Leave. All of you."

"See Naruto. I knew that he wasn't going to be happy." Sakura said breaking free from Sasuke's grip.

"That's bullshit Sakura. He is happy. Can't you tell? Why else would he overreact like that?" Naruto glanced at Sasuke. "He is just trying to hide his joy that's all." Naruto smirked.

"Shut the fuck up Naruto." Sasuke had an evil expression on his face. "Either you leave now. Or Sakura won't leave here at all."

This comment surprised the three. Naruto and Shikamaru looked at each other with a questioning look. Or Sakura won't leave here at all? Did she hear him correctly? Why would he say that? What is he talking about? These questions ran through Sakura's and everyone's mind when they heard Sasuke say those words. Sakura wondered what he meant.

"What the hell are you talking about Sasuke?" Naruto questioned him a bit irritated.

Sasuke sighed aggravated. "Look, I don't have time to discuss this with you all. You don't understand. I wasn't kidding when I told you to leave me alone." He started to walk towards the direction of the two guards.

Shikamaru stopped him and stood in front of him. "I think it's you who does not understand." He said with a very serious tone. "Our orders were to escort you back." He stared at him. Sasuke sighed annoyed and looked away. "To be honest I didn't even want to come on this mission. I'd rather be at home spending quality time with my girlfriend. But you are one of Konoha's children, with a bloodline limit, which if fallen in the wrong hands can create a very troublesome situation. That is why I can not let you go." Shikamaru waited for his response, but Sasuke just stood there silently. "Plus I do not want to report another failed mission under my leadership to Tsunade-sama." Sasuke still remained silent.

Finally Naruto spoke. "Do you even comprehend what Orochimaru is planning to do to you? You won't even exist anymore to complete your revenge."

Sasuke made a fist and frowned. "I am well aware of Orochimaru's plans and I do not care about that. I can take care of myself. So you can tell your Hokage to stop sending ninjas after me."

Sakura gritted her teeth. "You keep saying that you don't care. You don't care if Orochimaru absorbs you. You don't care if you're not around anymore to have your revenge. You don't care if you die! How can you say that! Are you just going to take Orochimaru's word for it when he tells you that you'll have your revenge after he takes your body. How could you trust him to do that? You don't know if after he absorbs you he will go after Itachi. So stop saying that you don't care, because you do care! You cared enough to leave us for your revenge! That's all you live for right! How could you live for it if you die!" She yelled out of frustration.

"Calm down Sakura." Shikamaru tried to shush her.

"No, Shikamaru. I will not calm down! Sasuke made a stupid trade. He will give Orochimaru his life if Orochimaru gives him strength for his revenge. But he won't even be around anymore to see his revenge. We have to make him see that Orochimaru is selfish and could not care less about his stupid vengeance." Sakura angrily said to Shikamaru. "We have to make him realize that he made a mistake and what he is doing is wrong." She turned her attention back to Sasuke. "Can't you see that?"

Sasuke obviously irritated gazed back into Sakura's eyes. "Do you really think that I'm just going to let him do that to me? There is one thing Orochimaru forgot when he gave me power. And that's the fact that I'm now strong enough to kill him. What kind of fool do you think I am? I'm not stupid unlike you people. I never trusted Orochimaru. He was foolish enough to trust me. Too bad for him, he underestimated me. If he tries to absorb me I'll kill him." Sasuke smirked.

Suddenly Sakura slowly approached him. "Sasuke-kun." She had a sad look on her face. She sighed. Sasuke looked at her. He saw her expression and his smirk vanished. He wondered what she was thinking about.

**-Flashback-**

"Anko sensei!" Sakura shouted and ran over to the purple-haired sensei.

Anko turned around and smiled. "Aah, Sakura. How are you?"

Sakura smiled back at her. "I'm fine thank you. But there is something that has me worried a bit. I've been doing a lot of research on the cursed seal Sasuke has and I found out that there isn't any information on the long-term effect of the seal. I was wondering if you knew something about that, since you have the seal as well.

Anko showed the spot where the seal was, only it was not there anymore. Sakura's eyes widened. "I found a person in the sand village who has a lot of experience with these kinds of seals. I couldn't approach her before, because the sand and the leaf had an unstable relationship with each other. But after that was settled I paid her a visit and she helped me remove the seal. She also told me that I only had the level one seal. And now comes the interesting part."

Sakura listened very carefully.

"I am lucky that I didn't advance to level two, because the level two seal…"

**-End flashback-**

Sasuke still stared at her. He had a confused look on his face. He could not pinpoint what Sakura was thinking while staring at him like that. Sakura noticed that he was getting impatient. So she spoke. "I think it's you who underestimated him." Sasuke wondered what she meant by that. All eyes were now on Sakura. Shikamaru and Naruto knew what she was talking about. She had told them at the briefing.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke calmly questioned her.

She stared at the ground. "Anko told me…" She paused. She saw that Sasuke was getting a little bit annoyed so she continued. "The level two seal enables the one who cursed you with it, to control you as they please after a period of time." Sasuke eyes widened. She looked up from the ground. She continued talking. "It might already be too late for you. You might be under his control as we speak."

Sasuke shook his head. He had a hard time understanding what Sakura just said to him. His mind was blank at first but then all of a sudden all these thoughts came rushing in._ "Under his control? What does that mean? Does it mean that even though I'm so powerful now, I can't use my strength the way I want to?"_ Sasuke's head was racing with thoughts. He could not believe it. All this time Orochimaru fooled him. How could he have been so blind? _"No it can't be true."_ He thought to himself. "No, that's impossible." He said out loud.

Sakura reached out to touch him, to try and calm him. "Sasuke."

Sasuke brushed her hands off. "No. That's bullshit. I am not under his control. I am fine. Once I'm satisfied with the strength that Orochimaru has given me, I'll leave. I'll get my revenge on my brother and I'll…"

Suddenly they heard an explosion. They all looked at the direction where the sound came from. They saw smoke. "Neji." Sakura whispered. Sakura immediately thought of him, since the smoke was coming from where they left Neji and his team. They all hurried in that direction. Sasuke followed them.

When they arrived they saw Neji, Shino and Lee fighting a couple of ninjas of the sound. They quickly hid behind a couple of trees. Orochimaru was watching Neji and the rest of team 2 together with Kabuto. It seems that they discovered the imposters. Sakura looked closer and she saw that Neji and Shino were badly injured. They were still fighting though. Lee was using his speed to confuse the opponents, although he was a bit slower, since he was also hurt. Their opponents were also badly injured, but Orochimaru ordered them to keep on fighting, as if it was for his own amusement. He had an evil grin on his face. Suddenly he spoke. "Did you really think, that I am so stupid that I would not notice you Konoha assholes?" He laughed.

Sasuke made a fist again. "Shit." He moved away from behind the tree.

Shikamaru tried to protest. "Sasuke. Where are you going?" He whispered, but it was already too late. Sasuke had already reached Orochimaru.

"Aah, there is my trustworthy pupil." Orochimaru grinned. His smile quickly changed into a serious and dangerous glare. "Did you have something to do with this?" As soon as he said that Kabuto pulled out a kunai and aimed it at Sasuke.

Sasuke looked at Kabuto. "Put that thing away before I break your arm." He said with a low intimidating voice. Kabuto smirked. He looked at Orochimaru. Orochimaru nodded and Kabuto put his kunai away. Sasuke faced Orochimaru. "No I didn't." He said with his usual calm. "Why are you letting this continue? Let them be, let them return to their village. I'm sure they've learned their lesson and they will not come back here again."

Orochimaru put on his evil grin again. "I'm not so sure about that and besides I want them to be an example for other Konoha ninjas who want to attack this village." He looked over at his ninjas fighting the three intruders and gave them an order. "Kill them and return their bodies to their village. Hang them up at the gate of Konoha as a warning sign."

Sasuke quickly responded. "No. That won't be necessary." His eyes sparkled for a fragment of a second. Long enough for Orochimaru to notice it.

Orochimaru looked at him suspiciously. He closed his eyes and thought for a second. He opened his eyes again and stared directly into Sasuke eyes. Sasuke did not move an inch, putting up his cool and cold exterior as always. Surprisingly Orochimaru answered. "Yes, you're right. That won't be necessary. We can use them as leverage. I am positive that Sakura will comply then."

Sasuke widened his eyes. _"Oh no."_ He quickly thought to himself. _"He noticed, shit."_

Sakura, who was observing and listening closely to the conversation, was surprised to hear her name. _"I will comply? What is he talking about?"_ She thought to herself.

"Won't you Sakura?" Orochimaru looked directly at the tree Sakura was hiding behind.

Sakura's heart skipped a beat. How did he know that she was there? There was no point in hiding anymore. She took a deep breath and slowly appeared from behind the tree.

Sasuke made two fists this time. _"Shit. This is bad. I have got to get Sakura and the others out of here."_ He quickly thought to himself.

"Oh wow. You really are here." Orochimaru laughed. "Lucky guess."

"How did you know?" She asked him.

"Wasn't it obvious?" Orochimaru smirked. Kabuto appeared behind her and forced her towards Orochimaru. Orochimaru grabbed her chin with his hand and forced her to look into his eyes. "I could see it in his eyes. They sparkled." He pushed her onto the ground. Sakura angrily gazed at him. He walked over to Sasuke, who was still acting cool. If he made a wrong move his former friends would be killed and that is one thing he chose a long time ago not to have on his conscious. Orochimaru stood behind Sasuke and whispered in his ear, but loud enough so that the others could hear it. "His eyes always sparkle…" Orochimaru roughly pushed Sasuke towards Sakura, which made him fall and land on top of her. They looked each other in the eyes. "…when we talk or when he thinks about you." Sakura was in shock when Orochimaru finished his sentence. She stared at Sasuke. She had a questioning look on her face. She did not comprehend what Orochimaru just told her. Sasuke turned his head away from her and for a second Sakura thought she saw an embarrassed look on Sasuke's face. Sasuke lifted himself off of Sakura and stood up, as did a confused Sakura.  
"You might as well all come out if you value your lives." Orochimaru raised his hand ordering his ninjas to stop fighting. Naruto and Shikamaru emerged from behind the trees as well. Neji, Shino and Lee fell onto the ground exhausted. They were breathing heavily. Shikamaru and Naruto walked over to them and helped them to sit up straight.

Lee whispered in Shikamaru's ear. "I guess they were stronger than we thought."

"Ok Orochimaru. I give in. What do you want from Sakura?" Shikamaru questioned him. After quickly having analyzed the situation he decided to play along for now.

Orochimaru laughed. He looked in the direction where Kabuto was standing, who then started laughing as well. He then faced Shikamaru again. "YOU FOOL!" Orochimaru screamed furiously all of a sudden. "I WANT BACK WHAT WAS TAKEN FROM ME BY YOUR IDIOTIC AND STUBBORN THIRD HOKAGE!" He shouted ferociously. He immediately calmed down again and regained his posture. "Not so long ago, my dear subordinate over here found out that Tsunade trained this beautiful and petite girl over there." He pointed at Kabuto and then at Sakura as he was speaking. "I figured if Tsunade is training her then eventually she must be able to heal my arms as well. That foolish Tsunade did not want to do it. She even tried to trick me. But I am sure her student is not that stupid, because she values her life and that of her friends." He smirked at Sakura. "And that of her precious first love Sasuke." He said sarcastically. "That is how I knew you would eventually come here." He mocked her. "This coward over here." He pointed at Sasuke. "I ordered him to bring you to me, but he refused to. He made up an excuse that you would not accept him back in your life, let alone go with him somewhere, because he hurt you." He said with a mocking tone in his voice. "But I knew better. You're still in love with him, aren't you? How sad." He laughed. He then whispered something that Sakura could have never even consider to be true. "And the saddest part is… that for some reason he loves you too."

Sasuke glared at Orochimaru. Sakura started to feel faint. She was feeling so weak. Orochimaru was throwing all this information at her and she did not know how to cope with it. She did not even know if what he was saying was true. She glanced over at Sasuke. He looked agitated. She then looked over at Neji to see his reaction, but he was showing no emotion. She decided not to think about what Orochimaru said. About Sasuke being in love with her. She figured that he was lying to confuse her. She quickly remembered something else Orochimaru had said about Sasuke. Sasuke did not do what Orochimaru ordered him to do. That must mean that Sasuke is not under his control yet. This gave her hope and strength again.

Orochimaru looked back at Sasuke. "Don't be mad that I told her Sasuke. I'm sure you're wondering how I found out. It was easy." He grinned. Sasuke gnashed his teeth "There is this jutsu, which Kabuto can use to find out what's inside people's heart. Their deepest desires, fears, secrets. He used that jutsu on you when you were sleeping. It's quite easy actually, anyone can do it. It's a similar jutsu to the one interrogators use to retract secret information from spies. He just had to place his hand on your heart, concentrate, center some chakra in the palm of his hand, create a special chakra link from your heart to his ears and eyes and observe. Your heart is saying a lot of interesting things. He had to dig deep, but eventually he found your most inner feelings. He told me everything. The hate and distrust you have towards me, the oh so great love you have for Sakura, the cherished feelings for your precious friends and even… the secret, caring feelings you have for your brother."

With that said Sasuke charged at him. He rapidly grabbed him and held Orochimaru in a strong grip and a knife against his throat. Orochimaru laughed. "Ooh I pushed a button there. Are you angry, because I discovered your feelings, or because I told your friends, or maybe because I found out your feelings before you realized you even had them." Sasuke tightened his grip. "Tell me something, my valuable pupil. Because there is one thing I don't understand." He said sarcastically. "I can understand that you hate me, because after all I AM the so-called bad guy." He smirked. "I can understand that you care for your friends, even though they are a dull little bunch."

Naruto gritted his teeth. Orochimaru saw this and found it to be very entertaining. He continued provoking Sasuke. "I can even understand why you love Sakura." Sasuke tightened his grip even more. Orochimaru ignored him and continued talking. "I mean, look at her. She is a gorgeous, little girl isn't she? Well… Not so little anymore." He laughed softly. "But please tell me, explain to me. How is it that after all the things Itachi did to you, you still care about him, even though it's just a little bit?"

Sasuke ignored his question and pushed the knife a little bit into his flesh. "Don't push it Orochimaru. Don't you know I could kill you right now if I want to?" He whispered on a menacing tone.

Orochimaru had an evil grin across his face. "What is stopping you?" He provoked him.

Sasuke saw this as Orochimaru's death wish and wanted nothing else but to grant it. But something was stopping him. All of a sudden he could not move anymore. Sakura saw Sasuke's eyes turn blank. His face showed no emotions at all. Orochimaru slowly moved away from Sasuke. He smirked. "The poor bastard. He really thought that I could not control a very powerful weapon like him. It took me a while, but now he is finally under my complete control." He turned and faced the Konoha ninjas. He saw that Sakura was speechless and about to cry. Her hope of Sasuke not being under Orochimaru's control was completely demolished in just a few seconds. He grinned. "Kabuto, you could not ask for better entertainment than this can you?"

"You are right sir." Kabuto smiled.

Sakura's eyes were becoming watery. She glanced at her friends. They were all helpless to do something. Sasuke was under Orochimaru's control. She felt so useless. She started to feel angry, she did not like to feel powerless especially when it comes to the safety of her friends and family. With a burning rage she charged at the one responsible for this mess. Kabuto stopped her from hitting Orochimaru. He grabbed her arms and then her waist. He lifted her of the ground. She struggled, but it was hopeless. She could not think straight anymore. She started crying even though she knew it wouldn't do her any good. She just could not help herself.

"Calm down little girl." Orochimaru said seriously. His mood changed from messing with peoples minds to frightening them. "Sakura you have a choice to make here. Either you give me what I want or watch everyone you love die." He was not being sarcastic this time. He was dead serious.

"No! Sakura! Don't do it!" Naruto desperately shouted at her.

Sakura looked at Naruto with tears in her eyes. She broke free from Kabuto's grip and thought for a moment. She gazed at Sasuke. Her heart broke in two when she saw him like that. A lifeless body under the control of this madman. She walked over to him and placed her hands on his face. A few tears fell down on the ground. "Sasuke." She whispered sadly. "I am so sorry, I should have never come here, then we wouldn't be in a situation like this. I should have listened to you. But you can't blame me for trying to save you. For trying to make you come back to me." She paused for a second. She looked at Naruto. He was looking at her with a miserable face. She knew he felt helpless, but there was nothing she could do about that now. The Konoha ninjas could not get close to Orochimaru to kill him, because then his ninjas and Kabuto would be in the way. Not to mention Sasuke, who would probably protect him even though he did not want to. She thought of what Hinata said to her right before they left to go on this mission. She promised Hinata that no matter what, she would make sure that Naruto would return to her safely. Then she thought of Tenten. Sweet innocent Tenten that trusted her completely to return the one she loved back to her. She saw no other option. She had no choice. She looked over at Neji who shook his head, it was his way of saying don't do it. She ignored him and faced Sasuke again. "I am sorry Sasuke, for what I am about to do." She removed her hands from his face and turned to face Orochimaru. She stopped crying and glared at him. _"I'm sorry everybody, but I have no choice."_ She thought to herself. She wiped away her tears and she spoke. "Fine, I will do as you ask, as long as you swear to let my friends go. After they have safely returned to Konoha village and I've received confirmation that they have, I will heal your arms."

"No Sakura! Don't!" Naruto pleaded with her. Sakura ignored him.

Orochimaru looked at her suspiciously, but he could not sense any tone of betrayal in her voice. "It's a deal." He smirked. "You!" He pointed at Naruto, who could not believe what Sakura agreed to. "Take your friends and leave. Now!" He ordered them.

Naruto kept staring at Sakura, who had her back towards him. "Sakura." He whispered.

"Go!" She shouted back at Naruto without looking at him.

"Come on Naruto. You carry Shino. I'll carry Neji. Lee can you walk?" Shikamaru asked him. Lee nodded. Shikamaru had to make quick decisions if he wanted to return safely with his friends and retreat. He promised Ino that he would try to make it back to her and right now this was their only option to go back to Konoha. Naruto slowly got up and did as he was told. Shikamaru watched him. He saw that he was in shock and acting on automatic pilot. He could not imagine what Naruto was feeling right now. He came here to return a lost friend, not to lose another. Shikamaru took one last look at Sakura. _"I hope you know what you're doing Sakura."_ Sakura nodded at him as if she read his mind and they started to walk away.

Sakura took one last look at Neji who had a very worried expression on his face. She gave him a soft smile. It was her way of saying that everything will be all right. Neji did not want to leave her alone, but he had no choice. They left.

As soon as they left Sakura fell to her knees, exhausted from this emotional experience. She placed her head in her hands and cried. "I'm sorry everyone. I'm so sorry."

"Kabuto. Show Sakura to her room and let her rest." Orochimaru ordered him. "I want her to be acting normal and mentally stable, when she heals me. I don't want anything to go wrong this time."

"Yes sir." Kabuto helped Sakura off the ground.

Orochimaru walked over to Sasuke, who was still like a mere puppet. He stared at him and smirked. "Oh Kabuto, better yet. Let her stay in Sasuke's room. They will share a room. This way they can work their feelings out. I love the sound of arguing voices. Maybe they'll even try to kill each other." He laughed. "I hope not. At least not until she has healed my arms." He softly laughed again at his own twisted joke. "Besides when she finds out how Sasuke truly feels about her, she will be even more motivated to heal my arms in order to preserve his and her friends' well-being."

"Yes sir." Kabuto replied once more and showed Sakura to her room.

Orochimaru released his control on Sasuke. The second Sasuke came to his senses he charged at Orochimaru. "Calm down my pet. You should thank me that I haven't mentioned your diary in front of all those people." He smirked. Sasuke looked at him, surprised to find out that Orochimaru somehow knew about the diary he kept since the day he arrived here. "I don't think you have anything to worry about. That pink-haired beauty probably thinks I was lying about you being in love with her. Maybe I should just tell her about the diary anyway." Sasuke raised the knife and was about to stab Orochimaru. "Now, now Sasuke. Don't be hasty. If you kill me, Kabuto will kill Sakura." Sasuke immediately backed off. "That's a good slave." He mocked.

"Where is she?" Sasuke asked him. He was definitely pissed off now.


	2. Chapter 2 Arrival of a rival

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter 2 Arrival of a rival**

It was noon. Sakura sat silently by the window, watching the occasional bird fly by. Soundless tears fell of her cheeks on the floor. The room she was sitting in was small, with one king-size bed and two pillows on it. There was one light, which made the room quite dark and there was a door to another small room, which was the bathroom. She felt like taking a bath to calm her nerves, but she didn't feel like moving in order to get to the bathroom. She was in a daze when Kabuto was told to bring her to this room so she had no idea that she was actually in Sasuke's room. She was thinking about the look Neji gave her when she decided to stay here. A wrinkle formed on her forehead. _"I'm sorry everyone, but don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I hope…"_ She quietly thought to herself. She started thinking of Naruto who must be distraught by what happened here today. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Sasuke opening the door.

Sasuke entered his room and saw her sitting by the window with her back towards him. "What were you thinking?" He violently closed the door with a bang. He regretted shouting at her as soon as Sakura turned around. He saw her tears and he remained silent.

"I assume you could hear everything what was said and see what was going on, even though you were under his control." She answered him. Sakura paused to wait for a response that didn't come and then answered his question. "I was thinking about my friends. I know that that is not normal for you, but try to put yourself in my shoes. I for one DO care about my friends." She said seriously. She wiped away her tears with one hand.

"That was not thinking about your friends." He said aggravated.

"Stop being mad at me. I am not your enemy." She responded surprisingly calm.

He ignored her comment and continued talking. "Explain to me how helping Orochimaru is caring for your friends." He said still irritated. "He will go after your friends and family anyway when he destroys Konoha village after you heal him. So please do explain." Sasuke had a minor sarcastic tone in his voice.

Whether it was the tone Sasuke was speaking in or the fact that he thinks she's stupid. Either way Sakura was starting to get annoyed now too. So she decided to ignore his question and bring up a subject that has been bugging her ever since she calmed down and remembered Orochimaru's words. "First explain to me how Kabuto saw in your heart that you're supposedly in love with me!" She shouted back at him.

She saw that she caught him off guard with that question. Sasuke didn't really know how to respond to that, so he just said the first thing that came to his mind. "Don't yell. I am not your enemy remember."

"Don't use my own words against me! I can scream whenever I feel like it! Now stop being a smartass and answer my question!" She stood up and walked over to him.

With every passing second Sasuke was getting more aggravated. "You haven't changed a bit. You're still annoying. I asked you a question first, so answer it."

This ticked off Sakura. "Fine! I'll answer your irrelevant question! I never intended to heal Orochimaru. Unlike what you may think I'm not stupid. As soon as the sun hits the horizon at daybreak I'm out of here. And you are coming with me. Now answer my question!" She spouted back at him.

He didn't expect her to answer so shortly, knowing the old Sakura she would have come up with a long and confusing explanation. Not a short and very logical one. He sighed and calmed down a bit. "There is no way you can escape. And I'm not going anywhere." He replied softly.

"Answer my question." She said resolute, not removing her stare of his eyes.

There was no way out for Sasuke this time. He had to answer. He sighed again. "Look." He gazed at her and Sakura saw the sparkles in his eyes what Orochimaru was talking about. He quickly looked away. "He was obviously lying. All that stuff he said about me still caring for my brother is clearly bullshit and everything else was too."

Sakura was quiet for a moment. The question she's been wanting to ask him since forever was burning on her lips. She summoned enough courage and spoke. "Then… how do you feel about me?" She asked him calmly. She didn't remove her stare from him, hoping to see a response from his body language that could tell her more than words could say. Sasuke looked up and gazed back into her eyes. He showed no emotions at all.

He averted his eyes again and responded. "You're annoying. I already told you. Nothing has changed after all these years."

Sakura remembered the day he left again. She closed her eyes. She did not believe him. She was not annoying. At least not anymore. She has matured a lot. The day he left he indeed said she was annoying but he also said thank you. All of a sudden it all made sense to her. "I think I finally understand why you find me annoying." Sasuke looked at her, wondering what she was talking about. She slowly continued talking. "It's because I am the first person in years who is honest about her feelings for you and it scares you. You don't want to be scared, but you are and that annoys you. You're scared that I'm going to hurt you, just like Itachi did." Sasuke frowned. Sakura noticed this. She cautiously moved in closer and touched his arm. He brushed it off. "You don't have to be scared Sasuke. I am not going to hurt you. I can prove it to you if you'll just let me."

"I am not in love with you. So don't ask me about that again. You're like an annoying little sister, but if you keep asking stupid questions, then you'll just be annoying." He said dryly, but clearly aggravated again.

A moment of silence occurred. Sakura gave up. "Fine… Be that way. Be stubborn, see if I care. But you're still going back with me to Konoha, whether you like it or not. You don't have a choice." She turned around. "If you stay here you are definitely going to be absorbed by Orochimaru. So I'm taking you back to Konoha with me. With or without your consent." She walked towards the bathroom "Now if you will excuse me, I am going to take a bath. If you need me… Oh wait… You don't. You don't need anyone right?" She glared at him before disappearing into the bathroom and shut the door with a slam.

* * *

Sakura was taking the best bath she had in a while. The warm water on her naked skin felt so relaxing like never before. Probably because she finally talked things over a bit with Sasuke about his feelings. All these years she felt an incredible void in her heart and in her soul, which was caused by not knowing how Sasuke would react to seeing her again and how he exactly felt about her. A lot of things happened today, most of them were unpleasant, but there was one thing that caused her joy. The sparkle in Sasuke eyes, the one Orochimaru mentioned. She did not know if Kabuto was telling the truth about him being in love with her, but she was convinced that Sasuke at least cared deeply for her. Just as Naruto told her before they went on this mission. And besides why would Kabuto and Orochimaru lie to her. Even if they were lying, she now had something to fall back on. No matter what Sasuke says, she has seen the sparkle with her very own eyes. He can try to deny it, but she knew better. If only there was a way to find out for sure if he loved her or not. She is not convinced yet that he only sees her as a little sister, even though that's what he said. She had to be sure, otherwise this void will never be filled. _"Uncertainty is a bitch."_ She thought to herself. She grabbed a sponge and began washing her leg. She tried to think of a way to change Sasuke's perception of her. If only he could see her as a woman instead of an annoying little girl that was once his teammate. She smiled. It would seem that Sasuke had changed a bit over the years. He was still as cold as always in the way he talks to her, but at least he is talking to her, which in the old days used to be a rare phenomenon. She could tell that he matured too just like the rest of them. And his maturity also shows in his outward appearance. She chuckled when thinking of his physique.

Her smile quickly turned upside down when an image of Neji popped into her head. "Neji." She whispered to the empty bathroom. She hoped that he was ok. Shino and Lee too. They were so badly injured after the fight with Orochimaru's minions. And Naruto too. His injuries were not on the outside, but she knew that on the inside he was wounded. He must have felt devastated about leaving her behind. It would take about two days for them to return to Konoha village in the state that they are in. And it would take one day for a message to be sent to her, verifying that they arrived safely. That would mean that she had roughly three days before she is forced to heal Orochimaru's arms. To be exact, the deadline would be the day after tomorrow. She wasn't going to be there for that deadline. She made up her mind. She was going to escape tonight, together with Sasuke and nothing or no one was going to slow her down or stop her. She held her breath and lowered her body until her head was under water.

Meanwhile Sasuke went for a walk. He got tired of waiting for Sakura to come out of the bathroom. He scouted the place and saw that Orochimaru had increased security. His eyes widened when he saw the strongest sound ninja present as well. Sasuke had fought with him before as training. The first few times he could not even touch him, but Sasuke improved and now they were each other's equals. _"Why is he here? What does Orochimaru want with him?" _He hurried back to update Sakura about the situation. He entered his room and saw that Sakura was not there. _"Maybe she is still taking a bath." _Sasuke knocked on the door. "Sakura?" No response. "Sakura? Are you still in there?" Still no response. He raised his shoulders and started wobbling the doorknob to check if the door was locked. To his surprise the door opened with ease. Sakura forgot to lock it, but Sasuke just assumed that she went out for a walk as well. He opened the door and the moment he looked inside Sakura emerged from underwater and rose out of the bathtub. They looked each other in the eyes. Slowly a blush appeared on Sakura's face. A very awkward moment of silence occurred. Sasuke's eyes gradually went down, they were acting on their own will. Sakura saw it and blushed even more.

She quickly grabbed the nearest towel and wrapped it around her body. "Sasuke? What are you doing?" She asked him shyly while making sure that the towel was wrapped tight enough so that it wouldn't fall to the floor.

Sasuke stared at the ground. "I was... ahem... I was checking to see if you were still in here." He replied calmly. "Why didn't you lock the door?" He still directed his gaze to the floor.

Sakura's blush still hadn't disappeared. She couldn't believe that Sasuke saw her naked. "Oh, I must have forgotten. Sorry." She laughed nervously.

"Do you have everything you need in here?" He continued, trying to make light of the situation.

Sakura was relieved that he wasn't making a big deal out of this. She smiled at him even though he wasn't looking at her. "Yes, thank you." She grabbed a brush and started combing her wet hair. "I'll be right out." Sasuke slowly looked up and their eyes met via the mirror. For a short period of time it looked as though time itself stood still. Sakura stopped combing her hair. Unexpectedly Sasuke took one step forward and it looked as though he was getting ready to walk over to Sakura. Sakura couldn't help but hold her breath and stare directly into his gleaming eyes that were watching her through the mirror. She wanted more than anything for him to walk over to her and hold her in his arms. She turned around and faced him. Suddenly Sasuke averted his eyes and took a step back. _"No wait."_ Sakura desperately thought to herself. But it was too late. The moment had passed. Sasuke quietly closed the bathroom door and she heard him close the other door behind him as well as he left the room entirely.

* * *

For the rest of the day Sakura was a bit upset. She kept wondering what was going through Sasuke's mind when he saw her naked. She couldn't help but think that he wanted her right then and there, but something was holding him back. Maybe it was just her imagination. But why did it look as though he wanted to walk over to her. She saw his face in front of her and the look he had while he was staring at her. Even though it was just for a few seconds, maybe, just maybe, Sasuke considered the possibility of being with her. It was nighttime when Sasuke returned. She heard the door opening and swiftly looked up to see Sasuke entering the room. They shared a look. Sasuke quickly removed his gaze from her. He threw a couple of sandwiches on the only bed in the room where Sakura was sitting on. He glanced through the room to see another spot to sit down and saw the chair in the corner. He walked over to it and sat down. Sakura remained silent and began eating her sandwich. She wanted to bring up the incident that happened earlier that day in the bathroom, but she didn't know how to. Before she could figure out what to say, Sasuke already spoke.

"Orochimaru has increased security." He said with a soft voice. "You should lay low for a while. At least until I figure out how to get you out of here." He sighed.

She looked away from him and ate her sandwich. After she finished eating it she spoke. "I don't care how tight security is. I've been here only for a couple of hours and already I can't stand it here. We are going home, tonight."

He sighed again, amazed by her stubbornness. "You don't understand. Orochimaru called in this guy. He is really strong."

"No you don't understand. The longer I stay here the longer Orochimaru can make sure that I won't leave here at all. Not to mention his control over you will increase the longer you have that level 2 seal." She said abruptly. Sasuke sighed for the third time. Before he could say anything else she spoke again. "Now tell me everything you know about this new guy." She looked at him like she already made up her mind and no matter what he said, she was already determined to leave tonight.

He sighed once more. "Fine." He thought for a second. "His name is Sota and he is Orochimaru's strongest henchman. He has dark hair, blue eyes and a small scar across one of his eyes. We've been training a lot together and he is actually partly responsible for my increase in strength. He was stronger than me for a while, but now I think were about equally strong." He paused. Sakura saw that he frowned a bit. He continued talking about Sota's abilities and techniques he uses in battle. Sakura listened carefully.

"Where did he come from?" She interrupted him.

"I don't know and I don't care. All I know is that he would do just about anything for Orochimaru, after he complains about it first."

"What do you mean?" She asked him a bit confused.

"He always seems to want to disobey Orochimaru and most of the time he does, but then after a while he does exactly what he has been told anyway. He hurt a lot of people he seemingly did not want to cause any pain, but he did anyway." Sasuke paused. Sakura saw that he was remembering something. "He always fought them with a cold look on his face, like he didn't have any emotions at all."

Sakura shot out of bed. "Just like you!" She said out of the blue. Sasuke looked at her, confused by what she said. Sakura saw this and tried to explain herself. "Don't you see? He is under Orochimaru's control just like you. He must have a level 2 seal too. Have you ever seen it on him?" She asked him excited.

Sasuke thought for a second. "Not that I can recall."

"Come on Sasuke think harder." She begged him.

He thought again. "Now that I really think about it. I did see some sort of mark on his neck once."

"I knew it. He's innocent, just like you. We have to get him out of here as well." Sakura said excited.

"No. You need to focus on getting out of here alone." He objected.

"You're both coming with me and that's the end of it. But not tonight, I first have to talk with Sota." She lied down on the bed and crawled under the covers. She briefly yawned and closed her eyes.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing. I am going to sleep." She muttered back at him, without opening her eyes.

"And where am I supposed to sleep?" He said while taking his clothes off, leaving nothing on but his shorts.

Sakura opened her eyes and turned to face Sasuke. "Are you serious?" She turned back to her sleeping position and closed her eyes again. "Sasuke come on, don't be so prudish. You already saw me naked so you shouldn't have a problem sleeping beside me. You stay on one side of the bed. I'll stay on the other one. As long as you don't try to feel me up, I'm ok with it."

Sakura would have never imagined Sasuke saying what he said next. "As if you would mind if I did." He softly spoke, not caring whether she heard him or not. He lied down next to her on the other side of the bed with his back facing her and closed his eyes.

Sakura opened her eyes and slowly turned around. She gazed at Sasuke's back and whispered. "You're right. I wouldn't." Sasuke didn't hear her. A small smile appeared across her lips. He really has changed. He actually made a joke, sort of. For a moment there she had to resist the urge of gently caressing his back and hoping that he would turn around and kiss her. But she knew that that was never going to happen. She slowly fell in a deep sleep with a grin on her face.

* * *

The next morning Sakura slowly opened her eyes and saw that Sasuke was watching her from the chair he was sitting on. He had a sexy smile on his lips. She rubbed her eyes to make sure that she wasn't dreaming. "Sakura." Sasuke softly spoke. He stood up and walked over to her. Sakura quickly sat up straight on the bed. Sasuke sat down in front of her and gazed at her with a warm look. He slowly reached out with his hand and brushed away a strand of hair in front of her face. She felt a blush coming on. He smiled at her. "You were right. I was afraid. But not anymore." He leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "I love you too." Sakura's eyes widened. Before she could say anything Sasuke placed his finger on her lips. "Ssssh." His gaze went from her eyes to her lips to her eyes again. He smiled, leaned in closer and gently kissed her. As soon as his lips touched hers her body started to heat up. He stopped kissing her and gazed into her eyes again. "Sakura." He said with a soft and sweet tone of voice.

Sakura smiled. "Yes." She replied.

"Sakura." He said again, not removing his warm stare.

"Yes." She said still smiling.

"Sakura!" He yelled all of a sudden.

"Huh...what?" Sakura slowly opened her eyes and saw Sasuke standing in front of her.

"Wake up. Stay here until I get back." He walked to the door and opened it.

She then realized she had been dreaming. She saw him leave the room and sighed. "If only..."

She yawned and stretched a bit. It was early in the morning, she got up and took a shower. With the door locked this time, she made sure of that. Sasuke apparently was already awake for a while, he was showered and everything. He went to get some breakfast. He had to, since he was the only one who could move around the premises freely. When he got back they both sat down on the bed and ate breakfast together.

"So what are you going to do today?" Sakura asked to break the silence with her usual happy voice and mood. She took a bite out of her sandwich.

He didn't respond. Instead he just looked at her. She was smiling at him. She looked really suspicious somehow. "What are you so happy about?" He asked her out of curiosity.

"I'm happy, because I am going to talk to this Sota character." Her smile became even wider.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and looked at her as if she was crazy. "Is that a reason to be this happy?"

"Yes. Because I'm sure that after I have talked to him, we will have a very strong ally. And then we can finally go home."

Sasuke stopped eating for a second. He looked at her skeptically. He finally spoke. "Bullshit… That is not why you are happy."

Sakura laughed. "No, it's just that… You know what. It's none of your business." She smirked. She could not tell him that she was happy because she had spent the night with Sasuke in the same bed. That definitely wasn't a dream. Even though nothing exciting happened.

He mumbled something that Sakura did not hear and then he mumbled something that unfortunately she did. "I thought that pms made girls cranky, not happy…" Immediately after hearing that she poured her glass of water over his head. She muttered. "Baka." And then left, closing the door with a bang.

Sasuke smirked. "It would seem that you have changed… Sakura."

* * *

Sakura smiled because that was the second sort of joke she heard Sasuke say since she's been here. Could it be possible? Has Sasuke really changed over the last few years? He's still a bit stand-offish, but once he sees that Sakura has changed as well, she was convinced that he wouldn't be so cold to her anymore.

As soon as Sakura walked outside she was followed by two of Orochimaru's henchmen. She looked at them and sensed that they had no significant power. She raised her shoulders and continued on her way. She was trying to find this guy Sasuke was talking about. That Sota guy, but it seemed that he wasn't there. Everywhere she looked she saw seemingly weak men. Even the ninjas that fought Neji, Shino and Lee weren't there. _"Neji."_ She remembered the image of an injured Neji from yesterday. She hoped that he was ok. She looked around again. There was no one fitting the description Sasuke gave her of Sota. "Is this what Sasuke calls an increase in security?" She could easily reach the forest if she wanted to. She started walking towards the woods, with a frown on her face. So far, so good. Then all of a sudden she started running. She had almost reached the edge of the site. Out of the blue, Kabuto appeared before her.

"Going somewhere?" He asked her sarcastically.

Sakura looked at him, irritated by his presence. _"Hmm, just as I thought. The others only come out when it's serious."_ She thought to herself. "No, I wasn't going anywhere. I just felt like running." She replied calmly. She turned around to walk back and noticed that she had gotten pretty far. Orochimaru's home was almost out of sight. She began walking back. But Kabuto stopped her by standing in front of her. She looked at him strangely. "What are you doing?" She asked slightly irritated.

Kabuto smirked. "You know… Orochimaru wasn't kidding when he said that you were gorgeous." He moved in closer towards her. She looked at him with disgust. "If you were my girlfriend, I would make sure that nothing happened to you. What do you say?" He reached out and gently caressed her hair.

"I say hell no!" She slapped away his hand. "Get away from me you freak." This angered Kabuto and he grabbed her. "Let me go!" She struggled a bit and then sent him flying by hitting him in the face with her famous Sakura punch.

He fell to the ground and rubbed his sore cheek. This angered Kabuto even more and he stood up. "Why you little…!"

"You heard the lady, no means no Kabuto." An unfamiliar voice said.

Sakura looked up and saw a vague, male figure sitting above them on a branch of a tree. Kabuto also looked up and smirked. For some reason he backed off. The surprised Sakura watched Kabuto leave. She looked up again to thank the mystery man, but he was not there. She looked around, but she didn't see him. "That's strange." She softly said to herself.

"What is?" A voice said behind her.

She quickly turned around. She blushed at the sight of him. He was standing sideways at her, so she didn't see his face clearly, but she could still get a fairly good impression of him. He was muscular and handsome. He had short, dark hair, with a lot of strands of hair in front of his face, which almost completely covered his bright blue eyes. His appearance was very sexy. He wasn't looking at her, but at something in the distance. He seemed to be in thought. She noticed the scar Sasuke mentioned. This must be Sota. The minute she realized that she was totally checking him out, he looked at her from the corner of his eyes. This caught her off guard and she blushed even more. "Err… Ehm. You must be Sota." She tried to compose herself. She quickly stared at the ground.

He now turned around to face her completely. He noticed that she was too shy to look at him. "It seems that Sasuke has already told you about me."

"Err… yeah. Yes he did actually. But he never told me you were this good-looking." She bit her lip. _"Shit! Why the hell did I say that?!"_

He smirked a bit. Almost unnoticeable. "Thanks I guess."

She felt his intense gaze on her and could not help but blush again. She was too embarrassed by what she said to look up, so she kept staring at the ground. They stood there in silence for a while. She knew that during that time he never removed his stare from her. Why is he looking at her like that? "Why…? Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked him without looking up from the floor.

He looked away and began walking towards Orochimaru's place. "Come on, I'll walk you back." He said ignoring her question.

Sakura followed him and softly said to herself. "Great, another man who mainly ignores me, just like Sasuke."

Sota abruptly stopped. Unfortunately she said it loud enough for Sota to hear it. He turned his head a bit. And he looked at her intensely from the corner of his eyes again. "Because you're so beautiful I can't help but stare." He replied with a serious tone. He turned his head away and started walking again. Sakura's eyes widened in surprise of his response and honesty. "And I'm not like Sasuke." He added as a final note.

He was right. He wasn't like Sasuke. Sasuke would have ignored that question, yet he didn't. She smiled a bit and followed him. "Hey wait a minute."

Sota stopped walking again. But this time he didn't turn around to look at her. "What is it?"

Sakura hesitated for a second. "Err… Can I? Ok this is going to sound silly, but… Can I take a look at your neck?"

"Why?" He said without turning around.

Sakura started to feel uncomfortable. "Err… Well it's just that. Sasuke told me some things about you and I want to… err… confirm something." She nervously laughed.

"Hmph, whatever." He pulled down his collar with his back facing her and showed Sakura what she obviously wanted to see. Sakura's eyes widened and her uncertainties were confirmed. He does have the same type of seal as Sasuke. "Satisfied?" He asked her.

She looked at his back. "Err… yes, yes thank you." He let go of his collar and to the surprise of Sakura he didn't start walking again. Instead he turned around. She quickly turned the direction of her gaze to the ground again. She still hadn't seen his face completely, but she just knew that he was hot. And for some reason she felt shy. She felt that he was staring at her again. With that same intense feeling from before. She blushed. Suddenly she remembered why she wanted to talk to him. "Oh right, uhm." She turned around without even giving him one glance and looked away. She doubted whether or not to take a direct approach. But since he previously answered all her questions, she chose the direct approach. "Hey, how did you get that seal?"

He closed his eyes as if he was recollecting something. He seemed not to be surprised at all by that question. He looked up at the sky. Once he opened his mouth, he just talked and talked. "My girlfriend's name was Aiko." He paused for a moment. Sakura assumed that he had an image of her in his head. "We did a lot of things together. She always made me laugh. Not only were we partners on a personal level, but also on a professional level. We were in the same team. She was beautiful like you." Sakura blushed. She wanted to turn around and face him but she stopped herself. "Only she had black hair." He paused again and furrowed his brows. "One day Orochimaru came to our village. He came to recruit new ninjas for his army, forcefully. Aiko and I were sent on a mission to try and stop him. Somehow he managed to capture us and right before my eyes…" He gritted his teeth and made a fist with his hand. He whispered. "He… killed her…" Sakura was stunned. She did not know how to respond to that. She felt sorry for him and had a sad expression. He continued. "She looked at me so desperately, she was screaming my name, but I couldn't stop him. I tried, but I couldn't. I wasn't strong enough." This time it was his turn to turn around again.

Sakura noticed this and turned around herself and walked over to him. She slowly reached out to touch him. She placed her hand on his shoulder. He was clearly devastated. She gently squeezed his shoulder.

He continued talking. "I swore to myself that I would revenge her death. That day I kept yelling at Orochimaru that I would kill him. I was actually surprised when he told me that he would give me power to try and do so. Of course I didn't know that I was walking into a trap. I accepted his offer to give me more power. I figured that if it was a trap I could escape. He gave me the seal and that was that. I went to his village and trained. I didn't know that after a while he could control me with that seal. I was so stupid… but I did it for Aiko. I loved her so much…" He looked up at the sky.

He slowly placed his hand on Sakura's hand which was resting on his shoulder. Sakura felt sorry for him. She could clearly see that he loved his girlfriend. Then all of a sudden he turned around and hugged her. She did not know how to react so she just stood there, a little bit uncomfortable. Gradually she hugged him back. "Shh… it's ok. It's not your fault." She comforted him with words.

"I'm really glad you're here Sakura. I thought I'd never see you again." Sota whispered in her ear, still hugging her.

At first Sakura wasn't sure if she heard him correctly. _"What is he talking about? Seeing me again?"_ "What do you...?" She was about to release her embrace and say something, but she was interrupted.

"Don't tell me you really don't remember me." He softly spoke. Sakura was getting even more confused, but before she could say anything he spoke again. "Maybe this will trigger your memory." He quickly maneuvered his lips onto hers and placed his hand behind her head so that she couldn't escape. She wanted to protest, but there was something about this kiss that felt familiar. He stopped kissing her and stared into her eyes. This was the first time that Sakura saw his entire face. He smiled, because he saw that Sakura had recognized him now.

"Kenshi!" She yelled in surprise. "What? How?" Sakura was amazed to see her ex-boyfriend in front of her. She hugged him again, tighter this time. She kissed him on the cheek and let him go. "Let me take a good look at you." She observed him up and down and smiled. It really was him. Kenshi, the boyfriend she had an amazing relationship with for two weeks. She brushed away most of the strands of hair that were covering his face. She laughed. "No wonder I didn't recognize you at first."

"Yeah there is that and there is the fact that you were too shy to even look at me." He chuckled. Sakura had a big grin on her face. He sighed. He reached out and gently caressed her cheek. "I've missed you." He said with a soft smile.

She smiled back at him. "I've missed you too." As soon as she said that she remembered all the things he was saying to her earlier about Aiko. She had so many things to ask him, but she didn't know where to begin. First things first. She asked him why he changed his name to Sota. Sota took a deep breath and began explaining that after what happened to Aiko he changed as a person. So he decided to change everything about himself, starting with his name. They sat down underneath the tree where Sakura first saw him after all those years. Then they started reminiscing about old memories of the times they spend together. At one point Aiko was the topic of discussion. "So since when were you and Aiko a couple?" She wanted to ask him that ever since she found out that he was Kenshi.

He didn't respond at first but then he finally spoke. "We were a couple long before you came into the picture. I always had a crush on her ever since we were little. But she acted as if she wasn't interested in me, which is pretty funny given that I was the most popular and cutest boy of my village." Sakura laughed at his arrogance. "Laugh all you want, it's true." He smiled at her.

"I bet it is." She replied. "Go on." She urged him to continue, because she knew that there was more to this story.

"Well anyway. Even though she seemingly wasn't in love with me we remained close friends. As we grew older she couldn't ignore her feelings anymore. When she finally confessed to me it was the happiest day of my life." He paused for a moment and gazed up at the sky. Sakura saw that he was thinking of that day. "I've known her all my life and we were still pretty young when we became an official couple, so..."

"And how do I fit in this picture?" Sakura clearly annoyed interrupted him."What was I, just a beautiful girl you cheated on your girlfriend with?" She stood up and started to walk away.

Sota quickly stood up as well and stopped her in her tracks. "I was about to get to that if you would just let me finish my story." He gave her a sweet smile. The same smile Sakura found irresistible when they were together. She thought about it for a second and returned to the tree. They both sat down again. "As I was saying, we were pretty young and when you've been together for so long, you're bound to piss each other off at some point. And so we did. Right before I went on the mission to Konoha where I met you we had a huge fight and we broke up. I didn't expect to hook up with a girl, but the moment I saw you I wanted to be with you."

Sakura's mood went from being annoyed to sad. "So I was just a stand in for Aiko. Typical." She stood up again. She brushed off the leaves that had fallen on her while they were sitting under the tree.

Sota stood up as well. He went to stand in front of her. Sakura leaned against the tree and looked him in the eyes. "I loved Aiko, but that did not mean that I didn't love you too." He spoke with a sincere and soft voice. Sakura's expression didn't change, it was still sad. "I didn't expect Aiko and me to get back together. My feelings for you were real. I even considered moving to Konoha just so I could be with you." Sakura removed her gaze from his eyes and looked at the ground. "If Aiko hadn't said that she wanted to try and work things out, I would have left. But I chose to stay, because I wanted to give the relationship I had for so long one more chance. And I've never regretted my decision, my love for Aiko grew stronger every day." He saw that Sakura closed her eyes trying to block out what he was telling her. He gently grabbed Sakura's chin and pushed it upward so that Sakura looked into his eyes again. "But all these years you never left my heart." He leaned forward and tenderly kissed her.

She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back. She quickly stopped as soon as she realized what she was doing. "Wait Kenshi. I can't." She placed her hand on his chest and gently pushed him away.

Sota pulled away from her. He knew why she stopped. "After all these years, you're still in love with Sasuke, aren't you?"

Sakura smiled vaguely. "I really regret ever talking to you about that specific subject." She saw a small smile appear on his face. Her expression quickly changed into a worried one. "It's just that... I have to know. I have to find out for sure. You understand right?"

He caressed her cheek. "Yeah I know." He replied with a warm smile. She smiled back at him and they hugged.

"I see that you have been acquainted." Suddenly a deep voice said.

Sakura was startled and quickly let go of Sota. Sota's happy face turned into a serious one as soon as he saw Sasuke standing there. "Nice to see you again Sasuke." He said dryly.

"Err… Sasuke. We were just... He was... I was... Uhm. What are you doing here?" Sakura asked him as if she had just been caught doing something bad. She wondered how long he was standing there.

"I came to check up on you. You were taking so long to return." Sasuke said while staring at Sota.

Sakura thought to herself that they totally lost track of time while recollecting old memories. She could feel the tension between Sota and Sasuke. It was like lightning bolts shot out of their eyes towards each other. She went to stand in between them to block their view on each other. "Thanks Sasuke, but I'm fine. Let's head back."

* * *

For the rest of the day Sasuke trained and Sakura stayed in their room. There was no sight of Sota. Sakura tried to figure out how to convince Sota to come to Konoha with her and Sasuke. After a while she gave up and decided to let fate run its course. If it was destined for Sota, herself and Sasuke to go back to Konoha village then they would. Night fell and Sasuke still hadn't returned. Sakura felt like swimming, she wanted to go near the waterfall where she first found Sasuke. She was waiting for him to return to guide her to the waterfall, but alas. She got tired of waiting, stood up and walked to the door. The second she opened the door Sasuke fell on top of her, which startled her. "What the hell?!" She looked at Sasuke who was lying on top of her. He was unconscious. "Sasuke? Sasuke wake up." She shook him a little bit, but no response. She moved and positioned herself in a way that Sasuke was resting on her lap. She brushed off a few strands of hair from Sasuke's face and saw a few bruises. _"What the hell happened to him?"_ She thought to herself.

She managed to get him on the bed and cleaned up the cuts in his face and the other visible cuts on his body. He cringed a bit when she cleansed a cut above his eyebrow. Sasuke slowly opened his eyes. He saw the blurry image of Sakura hanging over him. "Sakura?"

"Yes I'm here." She smiled. She finished cleaning him up and put away the tools she used. Sasuke tried to sit up, but Sakura pushed him back down. "No don't get up, you need your rest."

"But…" Sasuke tried to protest. But Sakura silenced him by placing her fingers on his lips. She shook her head. Sasuke looked at her. His face remained emotionless. The way she took care of him reminded him of his mother. "Thank you." He whispered all of a sudden.

She smiled. "You're welcome." They stayed like this for 2 seconds when… "NOW ARE YOU GOING TO TELL ME WHY THE HELL YOU ARE BEAT UP LIKE THIS AND WHY THE HELL YOU LEFT ME ALL ALONE IN THIS CABIN FOR ALMOST AN ENTIRE DAY?!!!" Sakura cracked.

Surprised by this sudden outburst Sasuke bit his tongue and winced in pain. "Au!"

"Oh don't be such a crybaby! Tell me what happened!" Sakura said still aggravated.

Sasuke has never been more scared then right this moment. "Sakura…" Sakura looked at him awaiting a reply. "You're scary." Sasuke said without thinking.

Sakura's head turned red as if she was about to explode. You could see the steam coming out of her ears. "Stay calm Sakura count to ten." She whispered to herself. "Are you going to tell me or not?" She said as calmly as possible while gritting her teeth.

Sasuke sensed her annoyance and told her the story, for his own safety. "I trained all day and in the end me and Sota sparred a bit. I guess it got a bit out of hand. Don't worry I'll be fine in the morning." He said coldly. To his surprise Sakura turned around and headed for the door. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to the waterfall. I can't stay in this room another minute." She opened the door.

"But you can't just walk around the premises freely!" He protested.

She turned her head and glared at him. "Watch me." She closed the door with a bang. She walked straight towards the forest. Some guards immediately followed her. She noticed them and turned around. "Stop following me!"

The guards took a step back and replied. "We can't let you out of our sight. We have orders to keep an eye on you at all times."

Sakura started to become even more annoyed. She closed her eyes. "Look, I am not in a great mood right now, so you have two choices. You can either leave me the fuck alone and live. Or…" She opened her eyes and glared at them devilishly. "You can choose to annoy me some more and die." The men were taken aback and looked at each other. "What's it gonna be boys?" The men remained silent and scared. Sakura took a step in their direction, this startled the men. "Let me make it easy for you." She turned around and walked away.

* * *

She heard the sound of falling water near the location she was now. She was getting close to the waterfall. She smiled. "Finally." She walked past a couple of trees. All of a sudden she heard a noise. She looked around and saw where the noise was coming from. Sota was doing some kunai training not far from where she was standing. He hadn't seen her yet. She quickly jumped behind a tree. She sneakily turned her head and glanced at him from behind the tree. She quickly turned her head back. _"What am I doing?"_ But she could not stop herself from staring at him. She turned her head again. She looked at him. He still did not know she was there. He was wearing a sleeveless, tight, black top. She could clearly see his muscular body. She could not help but be attracted to him. She smiled.

"I know you're there…" He said without stopping his training. "Sakura…"

She hid behind the tree again. _"Oh shit."_ She had no other choice but to come out and show herself. She took a deep breath and appeared from behind the tree. She shyly took a few steps forward. "Err… Hi. I wasn't spying or anything. I was just passing by." She lied.

Sota had a kunai in his hand and was playing with it. Sakura focused her eyes on it so that she wouldn't have to look in his beautiful, blue eyes. Sota saw this and positioned the kunai in a throwing position in his hand. He aimed it at Sakura. Sakura found it unbelievable that he was actually aiming it at her. She was even more surprised when he actually threw it. Fortunately he threw it right at the tree behind her. She realized that he wasn't aiming at her, but at the tree. Sakura's eyes widened. Sota grinned.

He walked towards her, while staring at Sakura with the same intense look as always. There was something very sexy about it now that he was grinning while looking at her. It looked like he was doing it on purpose. He took his hand through his hair and stopped right next to her. "You're still hot too." He gently caressed her arm with his finger, which made goose bumps appear on her arm. He winked at her and at the same time grabbed his kunai he threw at the tree a few seconds ago.

She blushed. Apparently he didn't believe her lie about not spying on him. She turned around to reply to what he just said, but he disappeared. She sighed. A bit disappointed she continued on her voyage to the waterfall. When she arrived there she took of her clothes. She realized that in her haste of getting away from the room where she spent the entire day and left an injured Sasuke she forgot to bring something that even resembled a bathing suit. But the craving to take a swim got the best of her and she went skinny-dipping. The surprisingly warm water on her skin felt so relaxing. She lied on her back in the water and looked at the sky. She smiled. Her thoughts were with Sota. She has liked Sasuke for so long that it felt alleviating to have someone else on her mind. Just like when Neji was making her forget about all her ex-boyfriends and Sasuke for a while. She repressed the feelings she had for Sasuke and remembered the love she had for Kenshi, now Sota, a long time ago.

She dove under water and swam all the way to the bottom. She swam back to the surface. When her head rose up from the water she decided to swim to the waterfall. The moment she got there she thought she heard a splash, but when she looked around she didn't see anything. She assumed it was her imagination. She let the falling water slide down her naked body. She combed her hair with her hands. Suddenly she felt something. This time it wasn't her imagination. She scanned the area. Nothing. There was nothing there but her. She looked in front of her at the water, something or rather someone was coming up to the surface. He was only a few inches away from her. "Sasuke?" No it wasn't him. When the person completely emerged from underwater she recognized him. "Kenshi." She whispered in shock.

His piercing blue eyes gazed into her eyes. He smirked. "Hi." His hands quickly grabbed her thighs.

Sakura blushed and at the same time felt a lot of butterflies in her stomach. She grabbed his hands and pushed them away. "What are you doing? You shouldn't be here. I'm naked."

"I'm well aware of that." He smirked. She was still holding his hands and he pulled her in closer.

"Kenshi, we talked about this…" She blushed.

"Shhh." He gently pressed his lips against hers and kissed her passionately. He let go of her hands and grabbed her head. His kiss was still as irresistible as ever. She slowly started kissing him back and placed her arms around his neck. Their strong embrace locked their bodies together.

"Kenshi…" She breathed in between kisses. His tongue slipped into her mouth and their tongues wrestled eagerly. Sakura let out a moan of excitement.

Sota broke off the kiss and gazed into her eyes. Sakura could not help but stare right back at him. He grinned. He let his finger slide over her wet lips and kissed her again. Slowly but surely he moved his lips from her mouth to her cheek to her neck right down to her collarbone. Sakura played with his hair while he kissed her and she let out more moans. She grabbed his head and gently moved it upward so that she could look into his eyes again.

They stared at each other for a moment. Sakura let her hand slide to his chest and she noticed a cut. He winced in pain a bit when she touched it. She remembered the bruises Sasuke had on his body. This cut must have been caused by Sasuke when they sparred. She frowned a bit.

Sota noticed this and grabbed her hand. "Don't worry about it. It's nothing." He kissed the palm of her hand and leaned in forward to kiss her on the lips again. But she stopped him. She turned her head away. He wondered what was wrong. "What? What is it?" He paused to wait for a reply. When that didn't come he tried to persuade her to continue where they left off. "Come on Sakura, I know you want me just as much as I want you. Remember the good times we shared together, we could be together like that again." She did not answer him. She just stared at the water. "Sakura?" He tried again.

"Like I said, I can't do this." She looked at him. "I have to go." She whispered.

"What?" Sota asked her a little bit surprised.

"I'm sorry but I have to go." She said a little louder this time. She broke free from their embrace.

"Yeah I heard you the first time, I was just wondering why? I mean its obvious that we are attracted to each other." He asked her, not understanding what just happened.

"I thought you understood. Sasuke is…" She paused. She looked away from his confused stare. "Never mind, I just have to get out of here." She swam towards the side. She got out of the water and started to get dressed.

Sota followed her. "Sakura." He quickly ran over to her. "Sasuke is what? Finish your sentence. You know what, I'll finish it for you. Sasuke is a guy that doesn't share the same feelings as you do. I know I told you I understood, but I guess I don't. I don't understand why you continue to put your life on hold in hopes that he will confess his love for you. Why won't you let him go, when I'm right in front of you?" He asked her amazed and at the same time annoyed.

"Fine then don't understand, ok. I just…" She could not explain to him. Why she still liked Sasuke even after everything he has done. After all these years... Why she did not allow another man into her life. Not Neji, and not him.

"And what am I then? Just a guy who was there at the right place at the right time? Just you're little boy toy who has the right looks to make you temporarily forget you're hopeless infatuation with this… this… loser! You're just using me! Those two weeks meant nothing to you!" He said angrily.

Sakura did not like the way this conversation was going. "I loved you!" She shouted to the surprise of Sota. "Those two weeks were the best two weeks of my life. And even though we were only together for two weeks, I loved you! You were the one that left! You were the one that decided to stay away from me!" She screamed.

"And you were the one that didn't follow." He glared. Sakura was taken aback by his reply. "You're pathetic, blaming others for the hopeless situation you're in. You're not even trying to change things. You're not even trying to love someone else. You're a coward." He continued denigrating her.

Sakura didn't expect those comments. How could he be so mean. "Why are you acting like this? You really have changed. You're not the Kenshi I knew." She responded calmly, but still surprised by his condescending tone.

"Stop calling me Kenshi! My name is Sota now." He said still aggravated.

"Yes your name is Sota. The name of a stranger. I don't know you anymore." Sakura's eyes started welling up. "I tried to move on with my life and I did. But as faith would have it, the people I gave my heart to, my love, all left. Because they didn't love me enough to stay." She quickly wiped away a tear. "Maybe you are right, maybe it's all my fault, maybe they didn't just leave, maybe I pushed them away. Either way it's obvious that I still need to figure some things out and I won't let anyone get in my way of finding out what those things are. Not even you." She angrily gazed at him.

Sota calmed down. "Sakura." He grabbed her arms and gazed into her eyes. "He is not worthy of your love." He said as a final plea.

They remained silent for a moment. "And I suppose you are?" She stared back into his blue eyes seemingly hurt by the comments he made. He let her arms go. She sighed and calmed down too. "I'll see you around Ke... I mean Sota." With that said she left.

* * *

When she got back to her room she heard Sasuke taking a shower. She let herself fall onto the bed and hugged a pillow. She was mentally exhausted from the quarrel with Sota. To be honest she really wanted to be with Sota, but somehow she couldn't. It felt like she was betraying Sasuke. Even though Sasuke told her many times that he didn't feel the same way as her. She was so tired of having this unrequited love for him. She wanted straight answers and she wanted it now. Maybe even a sign, a small clue telling her that he does have feelings for her. That maybe Kabuto was telling the truth about what he saw in Sasuke's heart. If only she could use that jutsu herself, so that she would finally know. But right now she would settle with a tiny hint.

She sighed with fatigue. She rolled over to Sasuke's side of the bed and placed her head on his pillow. She inhaled deeply and took in his scent. She listened to hear if he was finished taking a shower, but she could still hear the sound of falling water. She positioned herself so that she could stare at the ceiling. She imagined a picture of her and Sasuke kissing. Holding hands… Having dinner… Going on a date. Then she realized that that will probably never happen. She rolled over to lie on her side. She found herself staring at the cabinet right next to the bed. She wondered what was in it. She sat up straight and reached out to open the drawer. It was locked. She stood up and looked around the room for a key but didn't find any. She frowned. "I wonder what is in there." She raised her shoulders and decided to let it go. She went to sit back on the bed. "Sasuke?" She listened for a response. Nothing. He was still showering.

Her mind wondered off to Sota. _"That guy has some nerve, saying those things to me. I swear if I didn't still have some of these feelings for him I would put him in the hospital too."_ She smiled at the thought of his body against her naked body. The thought of kissing Sasuke popped into her mind again. She sighed once more as her thoughts began to dwell on Sasuke again. _"Why do I even like him? He's rude, selfish and mean. But he's also brave, strong and smart. Then again he's also cruel, antisocial and did I forget to mention mean. But he's also mysterious, serious and sometimes even nice. Which is amazing considering what he's been through. What am I doing? He is not worthy of my love. Sota is right, right?"_ Sasuke walked into the room with a towel on his head, with his underpants already on, but without a shirt. He saw Sakura sitting on the bed, yet he didn't say anything. He sat down on the bed right next to her and started drying his long hair. _"But I can't help feeling weak in my knees whenever I'm around him."_ She stared at his wet upper body. The sight of water shimmering of his muscles made her body tingle all over.

"Sakura did you hear what I said?" Sasuke interrupted her from her thoughts.

"Huh what. I'm sorry what did you say?" She blushed.

"I was wondering if you could cut my hair. I haven't had an haircut in ages." He said while taking a hand through his long, black hair.

"Sure." She replied with a smile on her face.

Sasuke stood up and grabbed the chair in the corner and sat down on it. Sakura gathered the material to cut his hair and went to stand behind him. She combed his long hair and started cutting off long pieces of it. She had the comb in her mouth. She mumbled something about not wanting to cut it too short. She asked him if the length he had when he came back for the Chuunin exam right before Orochimaru started his invasion in Konoha village was ok. He mumbled something back that he didn't care, so she continued to cut. After that they didn't say a word to each other. Sakura concentrated so that she wouldn't mess up his hairdo and Sasuke was silent as always like when he was younger. He had his eyes closed. It was time to do the front so she went to stand in front of his face. She positioned her face a few inches away from his face so that she could have a better look at his hair. His eyes were still closed. She was almost done. She quickly glanced at his body and blushed. She then looked at his face to see if he noticed her watching him. His eyes were still closed. She was finished cutting him. She took one last snap and was about to say that she was done, but saw an opportunity to stare at him a bit longer. She smiled as she gazed at his lips and imagined them kissing again. She moved in closer. Her body was moving on her own and she was about to kiss him when she stopped herself. Instead of moving away she just remained close to his face. All of a sudden he opened his eyes. This startled her and somehow the scissors cut into her flesh. "Au!" She screamed. She looked at the palm of her hand, it was the one where Sota kissed her before. There was now a small gash and blood was pouring out of it.

Sasuke remained emotionless and took a look at her palm. He grabbed it and saw that it wasn't anything too serious. He stood up and walked over to the bathroom to get a band aid. Sakura was gritting her teeth a bit. How could she have been so stupid. Sasuke came back and very gently placed the band aid on her hand. She looked at him and blushed. She wondered if he knew that she was staring at him and that she almost kissed him before she stopped herself. He looked up. "Now were even. You took care of my wounds and I took care of yours." She smiled at him. He sat down again.

"Oh I'm finished by the way." She said shyly. She gave him a mirror.

He looked at the result. "Hn... Thanks. Now lets get some sleep."

Sakura rolled her eyes. A little bit more enthusiasm would be appreciated. "You're welcome." She replied and they went to bed.

* * *

It was the middle of the night and Sakura was still wide-awake. She was staring at the ceiling and thoughts of Sasuke and Sota ran through her mind. Images of her friends appeared in her head. _"I'll be home soon everybody." _Today would be the third day that she has been here and that would mean that she will be forced to heal Orochimaru's arms as soon as she gets the message from Konoha. No matter what, she has to escape with Sota and Sasuke. She decided to go for a walk since she could not sleep. She removed the covers from her body and sat up straight. She quietly walked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" She heard Sasuke say behind her.

Sakura turned her head and saw him staring at her confused. "I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"

"Where are you going?" He asked her again. He sat up straight.

"I'm just going for a walk. I'll be right back." She smiled at him.

"Why? Its dangerous out there. The guards might think that you're trying to escape." He said to her seemingly concerned.

She didn't waiver. "I just got to clear my head. I'll be right back." She closed the door behind her.

Sasuke annoyed by her stubbornness got out of bed and decided to follow Sakura without her knowing it.

Sakura sighed and went on her walk. It was very quiet outside. She never thought that coming here would lead to emotional escapades. She figured that she would go on this mission and would return to Konoha village the same day, together with Sasuke if all went well. She would have never thought that she would meet her ex Kenshi now Sota, rekindle old feelings, make out with him and discover that Sasuke apparently loves her according to Kabuto. Never in her wildest dreams would this happen. She noticed the same guards following her again. She smiled at them. "I'm not trying to escape so you can leave me alone."

"We can't do that. We already got in a lot of trouble the first time we let you out of our sight." They told her nervously. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

Sasuke grinned. _"Good, at least she won't be alone."_ He thought to himself. He was about to return to his room when...

"Guards, stand down. I'll watch over her." A voice said behind the guards. It was Sota. Sakura crossed her arms a bit annoyed. "I won't let her out of my sight." He smirked at Sakura. Sakura rolled her eyes again and continued her walk. Sota walked after her.

"_What does Sota want with Sakura?"_ Sasuke decided to follow them.

They ended up at an open place in the forest. The wind was blowing their hair and Sakura relaxed her tense body. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the warm breeze passing by. Sota and Sakura hadn't said a word to each other during their walk over to this place. Eventually Sota decided to break the silence. "Have you made up your mind yet?"

Sakura opened her eyes and faced Sota. She wasn't expecting that question. "About what?" She replied calmly.

"You know what I'm talking about. Who is it gonna be? Me or that loser Sasuke?" He smirked.

Sasuke hid behind a tree and wondered what Sota was talking about. What happened between those two? As far as he knew they only saw each other that time when he was coming to get her. At least that was what he thought. He frowned and listened carefully to their conversation without getting noticed by the two.

"You're really persistent aren't you." Sakura smiled. Sota grinned a bit. She sighed. "You can't expect me to decide now."

"Why not? I think the answer is pretty easy." He approached her. "Sasuke does not feel the same way about you. He has done nothing but hurt you. He is not worth your time and effort." He grabbed her by the shoulders. They stared deeply into each other eyes. "If you choose me, you can get to know me again and you'll find out that deep down inside I'm still the same guy you fell in love with. And you'll realize that maybe I am worthy of your love." He caressed her cheek.

Sasuke eyes widened. Did he hear him correctly? They used to be in love and now he is actually trying to persuade Sakura to become his girlfriend? To choose him over Sasuke? He made a fist and gritted his teeth. He angrily left them behind.

They heard a sound. It sounded like someone stepped on a branch. "What was that?" They listened carefully, but the only thing they heard was the wind blowing. They both looked around the area to find nothing so they faced each other again. Sakura touched Sota's hand, which was still caressing her cheek. "Err...Sota, listen..."

"Don't..." He started. "Don't tell me you're going to choose him."

"Right now I'm choosing no one. I still have to verify a couple of things. I'm just so confused." She walked away from him.

He followed her. "You're confused. That's a good thing. That means you're considering the thought of being with me. Right?"

"To be honest I am... No wait, I mean... Argh my head hurts." She rubbed her forehead.

Sota hugged her from behind and placed his chin on her shoulder. Sakura closed her eyes and felt relieved to have his arms comforting her. "Are you sure its your head that hurts or is it your heart?" He whispered to her. Sakura remained silent. She had a sad look on her face. "How many years have you loved Sasuke and he didn't love you back? How many years has it been since he left you willingly? How many times did he hurt you? How many years have you been alone?" Sota spoke with a soft voice. Sakura felt like crying but held it in. "Don't you think you deserve better than that?" Sota let go of her. "You just think about that." He disappeared into the night.

Sakura turned around and gazed at the spot where Sota was standing a few seconds ago. Silent tears fell of her cheeks. "I'm tired of being alone." She whispered to the wind. She quickly wiped away her tears and returned to the room. She opened the door and saw that Sasuke was gathering some stuff as if he was getting ready to leave. She looked at him surprised. "What are you doing?" Sasuke kept gathering things and ignored her. Sakura saw that he was upset about something. She was starting to get annoyed since he still hadn't answered her. "Talk to me damn it. Where are you going?"

He stopped and looked at her clearly irritable. "I'm not going anywhere." He gave her the bag with equipment. "You are."

"What?" She said flabbergasted. "What the hell has gotten in to you?" She asked him confused.

"I saw you." He glared.

Sakura was surprised by the angry look on his face. She was getting even more confused by the second. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me. Is that the real reason why you haven't left yet. What is keeping you here Sakura? Its not me, because I'm not going anywhere. I already told you that. So it must be Sota."

Then she remembered the sound she heard while she was talking to Sota. That must have been Sasuke. She realized what he was talking about. What he saw. He saw her and Sota in the forest just now. But how much did he see and hear? And that is still no reason to be acting like this. He made it very clear to her that he had no feelings for her.

He held the door open for her. "Leave. You can find a boyfriend in your own village." He said clearly aggravated.

She walked over to him and shut the door with a bang. Sakura stared at Sasuke as if she was about to hurt him, badly. "Who gave you the right to tell me what I should do." She said on a low menacing tone. "I'm sick of feeling like this!" She felt tears welling up in her eyes. She quickly brushed them away. "You told me you are not in love with me and yet you do these things which make me doubt whether or not you are telling the truth!"

"What are you talking about? I am not in love with you and I never will be! I thought I made that very clear to you!" He yelled at her frustrated.

"Shut up Sasuke! Just shut the fuck up! I can't think of no other reason than that maybe you are in love with me otherwise you wouldn't overreact like this about this matter!"

"About what matter? I'm just telling you to go home like I've been telling you for the last couple of days." He walked over to the bed and stood still with his back towards her. He crossed his arms.

"No." Sakura said surprisingly calm. "You just can't stand the fact that I am actually considering moving on with my life and allowing myself to fall in love with someone other than you." She stared at his back. He didn't respond. "Other than the **overconfident big-headed prick** that is you!" She screamed with tears in her eyes. "You have no idea what it feels like to be in love with someone who doesn't love you back. Someone who has left his home village, his friends, who left me for the single purpose of some stupid revenge. Do you even know how lonely that feels?!"

He slowly turned around and faced her. "Don't talk to me about loneliness..." Sakura was startled by the cold look on his face. She was about to say something, but the look on his face made her stop. "Get out."

Sakura was starting to feel desperate. "I don't know how to get through to you?! Why? Why are you doing this? Why do you keep hurting me?" She cried. She looked straight into his eyes and let her tears run free.

"Get... out." He said again calmly.

Sakura couldn't take it anymore and walked away. She opened the door and ran towards the forest.


End file.
